U.S. trained FP to Canada??

[ZuperZtar]

Is it possible for a US trained FP to practice and live as a permanent resident in Canada?

What extra board exams need to be taken?

How difficult is the process to become a permanent resident if you are a US citizen? Does anyone know the criteria to becoming a permanent resident in Canada? Has anyone been through the process?

It seems to me like being an FP is a better gig in Canada, ie higher salaries, lower malpractice, incorporation etc.

I would appreciate your help.

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[MontereyMD]

Where did you get the impression that being a FM physician in Canada has higher salaries etc.?
This is totally untrue and you would become disillusioned very fast. Ask the hundreds of Canadian physicians who immigrate to the US each year from Canada.
Being a FM physician in Canada is really frustrating as you would feel you're not helping your patients. For example in B.C. simple tests such as PSA or certain genetic screenings for pregnant women are not covered. Want to get an MRI? Try 6 months earliest or get on the phone and argue with the radiologist to get your patient seen in 2 weeks. Basically medicine in Canada is like a big Kaiser Permanente lots of FM physicians and very few specialists and diagnostic tools. Sure looks good on paper but in reality it functions poorly and it is frustrating for physicians who spend long hours doing paperwork.
Getting Permanent residency is a whole different story and usually means a family relationship or marriage.
On top of that licencing is really difficult. You need to write the equivalent to the USMLE again MCCQ1 and MCCQ2 and CFPC exam. Each costs about $1500 and it would take 3 years to write in sequence. On top of that these exams are generally more difficult than the US equivalent.

 

[Giemsa]

Hi,

As a US-trained family physician, you could qualify for recognition of your training and being granted the CCFP without examination. It says it costs about $500.

see http://www.cfpc.ca/English/cfpc/education/examinations/EQUIVALENT%20TRAINING/default.asp?s=1

There are several areas/regions that are desperate for family doctors, and generally make it quite easy to practice. These include the provinces of Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, and rural/northern areas of Quebec (parlez-vous francais?) and Ontario. The less desirable the area, in general, the higher the salary.


This is the list of physician recruiters for the health regions in Saskatchewan and positions in Newfoundland. The classifieds from the CFPJ and the CMAJ should give you a sense of what's out there, too.

As for Monterey's comments re: job satisfaction, I really can't comment on this as I'm not an FP. You might want to contact some of the family doctors in the regions where you are thinking about working to see how they feel. And you definitely want to double- or triple-check everything that you are told on this anonymous message board.

Some MDs have difficulty coming to practice in Canada, but generally that seems to be a result of having somewhat questionable qualifications. The hospital I'm at has many US-trained staff, all of whom have established citizenship within 3 to 5 years without having to resort to marrying a Canadian. This is what Newfoundland had to say on the matter: "[P]hysicians applying from outside the country may also be eligible for provisional licensure and are often offered employment in Newfoundland and Labrador. Under these circumstances, International Medical Graduates can be sponsored for up to three years through a Temporary Work Permit. The employer and the provincial government organize the employment authorization through Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Services Canada. The physician is responsible for contacting the embassy at home to initiate the process once the employment authorization has been submitted in Canada."

Being US-trained, I doubt you would have any difficulty finding a spot somewhere - the question is whether working in Canada would be all that you hope it to be.

But you won't know until you look around. Pick out a job and call up the recruiter to find out more.

NB - This is only applicable if you are a fully trained board-certified poobah as of this moment. If you're a panicky med student, be advised that you'll need to re-evaluate in six years' time, since by then everything will likely have changed.

 

[cleothecat]

My wife is a FP physician in Canada (US Trained, but CDN citizen).
CW USA.
Better hours
Higher Income
More respect
Less malpractice
but higher caseload of patients (35-50 per day).

Job satisfaction ++++++

 

[Ariee]

NM. I found the answer when I re-read Giemsa's post above.

 

[med2UCC]

On top of that licencing is really difficult. You need to write the equivalent to the USMLE again MCCQ1 and MCCQ2 and CFPC exam. Each costs about $1500 and it would take 3 years to write in sequence. On top of that these exams are generally more difficult than the US equivalent.

I'm not going to even try to address the issue of whether Canadian FP's make more or less money or have more or less job satisfaction than their US counterparts. I have yet to see an FP in Canada who is starving in the street however, and most seem to have nice big houses and new cars. Not to mention boats and good holidays.
On the issue of writing exams, however, this above is rather misleading. A fully qualified FP from the US should not have to write the above exams at all. IF you did have to write them it would be possibel to polish them off in a year, tops. For example, if you wrote the QE1 in May, you can do the QE2 in the fall sitting and then do the FP exam the following spring. As someone in the middle of doing exactly that I can tell you for sure that this is a realistic time line. Cheers,
M